AL-SOMARIA, Syria (Reuters) -Syrian security forces stormed the rundown Damascus suburb in late August, toting guns, swords and eviction orders. In their wake, they left the district's homes spray-painted with big black "X"s and "O"s: marking who could stay and who must go.

The raids targeted al-Somaria, home to the families of thousands of former soldiers in the army of Bashar al-Assad, whose toppling by rebels nine months ago unleashed a wave of violence against the minority Alawite group to which he belongs.

The district is entangled in the toxic legacy of the Assad dynasty which ruled Syria for more than five decades, crushing opposition from the majority Sunni Muslim population while handing top jobs and seized land to Alawite loyalists.

On August 27-29, scores of security forces led by an interior ministry commander known as Abu Hudhayfah went door-to-door, telling families they were living on land illegally seized by the Assads and demanding proof they owned their homes, according to a dozen residents and two local leaders who all said they experienced this treatment.

Those families who couldn't immediately produce ownership documents saw the outer walls of their homes spray-painted with "O"s and affixed with printed eviction orders, the locals told Reuters in the final days of August, providing the most detailed accounts yet of the raids and the forces behind them.

"This is a notification to residents of illegal housing in al-Somaria to leave their houses in no more than 48 hours or face punishment under the law," read the notices which Reuters saw displayed on dozens of homes. The documents stated they had been issued by the "Public Housing Committee of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic".

Many dwellings were marked with "X"s, indicating they were safe, while others had both "X"s and "O"s, sprayed on by different groups of security forces over the course of the raids, the residents and local leaders said. Some homes with "X"s or with both signs also had eviction notices.

Dozens of male residents were interrogated about whether they had served in Assad's army, the people interviewed said. Others were detained in a residential building that had been turned into a police station and were beaten there by the armed fighters,........

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